Introduction: Serine proteases have been implicated as key drivers and facilitators of cancer malignancy. Protease, serine, 3 (PRSS3), which belongs to the serine proteases family, is reported to be abundantly expressed in a variety of types of tumor and contributes to the initiation and development of cancers. However, the clinical role of PRSS3 in colon adenocarcinoma (CAC) was not clarified yet. In the present study, we explored the potential effect of PRSS3 in CAC and whether it is related to the poor survival of CAC patients.
Materials and methods: The mRNA and protein levels of PRSS3 were examined in CAC samples and connective noncancerous colon samples through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay and immunohistochemistry staining. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to estimate the prognostic role of PRSS3 in enrolled CAC patients.
Results: PRSS3 expression in CAC samples was significantly increased compared with connective noncancerous samples. Moreover, a higher level of PRSS3 was found to be correlated with the larger tumor size, advanced T stage, and positive lymph node metastasis. In addition, PRSS3 was also defined as an unfavorable prognosis factor for CAC patients.
Conclusions: High expression of PRSS3 was significantly related to the unfavorable clinical features and poor prognosis in CAC patients. It suggested that PRSS3 might serve as a novel prognostic indicator and potential drug target for CAC treatment.
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